Thanks everyone who came out to Animazement this weekend we raised over $600 for the Red Cross which was twice last year and had a really awesome time. For anyone that missed out, we plan to hold more classes next year. :-) I loved all the cool designs people made with different silk painting techniques. I am in the process of posting pictures to facebook now.
Nash and I had a booth in the dealer's room which was AWESOME! Thanks so much everyone who came out and saw us. It was a first and you all made it special. We loved seeing you. Can't wait for next year. While Nash manned the booth, I got to do something rare for me which was kick back and relax going to different panels and guest speakers. It's so nice to see the enthusiasm for sewing at these events and the general fearlessness people approach the craft. A small time to stop and dork out.
My two favorite speakers were of course different master category designers: Jennifer Barclay and Catherine Jones. Both people create costume and custom designs, but from very different perspectives. One thing I like about large events is how you get to see people from different walks of life. As a designer, there's an almost infinite possibility for creation and it's fun to see what other people create for themselves. Because people are interesting and unique. After teaching a lot of art and sewing classes, I've really come to believe that everyone has their own flavor or perspective worth hearing to bring to the table. Ironically, both these ladies are out of Atlanta, GA.
First, Jennifer Barclay who runs the website Idle Ambition. She is a master class cosplayer who besides being quite beautiful, also enjoys the esoteric and rare. The more difficult the costume, the weirder the materials used, the better. This is probably fair as Jennifer works for a modern sleek ad agency called Moxie Pulse. Both of them like unconventional answers. You can tool around the company site if you like. My favorite is the blog which crunches great every day information and spits it out. Very cutting edge, very interesting, very trend following. Her Saturday panel I attended was called "Costumes from Start to Finish" where she reviewed a beautiful Tali costume she had done from Mass Effects. It was pretty educational in terms of looking at flawlessly matching the appearance on paper to a final product. I tend to worry about the guts first and the outside last so it's good to meet designers who remind us to work in the opposite direction. Cosplay is also disposable fashion so there's not the expectations that it will last 20-60 years of my typical customer. I look forward to seeing what else she creates and maybe attending more of her panels in the future. She had this really great piping down the front of her costume that I was tempted to go up and touch to see how she did it as it looked so clean, but I refrained myself admirably. I love touching fabric and clothing to see how it's constructed and always have to do a quick reminder not to offend the person wearing their fabulous creation. Overall, very clean designs, very interesting product, wonderful talk.
My other favorite speaker was Catherine Jones who runs a small custom cosplay shop called God Save The Queen Fashion in Atlanta, Georgia. She's a fearless patternmaker who I loved seeing her process and talked both about patternmaking in general and specifically leather making. Favorite speaker overall because we all know I'm a sucker for patternmakers. The piece work on her jacket construction was FLAWLESS in LEATHER. Talk about glutton for punishment. A lot of the basic building blocks of pattern drafting are the same, each designer adds their own flavor to the mix. She did some great math on the fly in both panels I attended which was very respectable. There was incredible substance to Catherine's designs and pattern construction. I've seen masters with 20 years experience in the industry who have sloppier lines and less attention to detail than she did. Very detail oriented. In the good way. I think she's late 20s, early 30s so I look forward to seeing her evolve and grow into her style now. I'll reserve the whole "master" title for when she's 20 years in, not because I think most people wouldn't give it to her, but because I look forward to seeing how high she'll fly. The great thing about designers is they get better with age. She's made so many costumes, I had a hard time figuring out how to show off her talents so I'm linking you to her flickr. The best part about all her stuff is how much better it looks in person and she takes unusual body types. Both irregular and plus-sized. In an industry that ignores 3/4 of it's population for being irregular, her perspective was a breath of fresh air. I look forward to seeing what else she creates. What lovely, lovely pieces of art and women.
Thank you ladies! And to everyone who came out and supported us! Thank you too! Have a great Memorial Weekend!
My two favorite speakers were of course different master category designers: Jennifer Barclay and Catherine Jones. Both people create costume and custom designs, but from very different perspectives. One thing I like about large events is how you get to see people from different walks of life. As a designer, there's an almost infinite possibility for creation and it's fun to see what other people create for themselves. Because people are interesting and unique. After teaching a lot of art and sewing classes, I've really come to believe that everyone has their own flavor or perspective worth hearing to bring to the table. Ironically, both these ladies are out of Atlanta, GA.
First, Jennifer Barclay who runs the website Idle Ambition. She is a master class cosplayer who besides being quite beautiful, also enjoys the esoteric and rare. The more difficult the costume, the weirder the materials used, the better. This is probably fair as Jennifer works for a modern sleek ad agency called Moxie Pulse. Both of them like unconventional answers. You can tool around the company site if you like. My favorite is the blog which crunches great every day information and spits it out. Very cutting edge, very interesting, very trend following. Her Saturday panel I attended was called "Costumes from Start to Finish" where she reviewed a beautiful Tali costume she had done from Mass Effects. It was pretty educational in terms of looking at flawlessly matching the appearance on paper to a final product. I tend to worry about the guts first and the outside last so it's good to meet designers who remind us to work in the opposite direction. Cosplay is also disposable fashion so there's not the expectations that it will last 20-60 years of my typical customer. I look forward to seeing what else she creates and maybe attending more of her panels in the future. She had this really great piping down the front of her costume that I was tempted to go up and touch to see how she did it as it looked so clean, but I refrained myself admirably. I love touching fabric and clothing to see how it's constructed and always have to do a quick reminder not to offend the person wearing their fabulous creation. Overall, very clean designs, very interesting product, wonderful talk.
My other favorite speaker was Catherine Jones who runs a small custom cosplay shop called God Save The Queen Fashion in Atlanta, Georgia. She's a fearless patternmaker who I loved seeing her process and talked both about patternmaking in general and specifically leather making. Favorite speaker overall because we all know I'm a sucker for patternmakers. The piece work on her jacket construction was FLAWLESS in LEATHER. Talk about glutton for punishment. A lot of the basic building blocks of pattern drafting are the same, each designer adds their own flavor to the mix. She did some great math on the fly in both panels I attended which was very respectable. There was incredible substance to Catherine's designs and pattern construction. I've seen masters with 20 years experience in the industry who have sloppier lines and less attention to detail than she did. Very detail oriented. In the good way. I think she's late 20s, early 30s so I look forward to seeing her evolve and grow into her style now. I'll reserve the whole "master" title for when she's 20 years in, not because I think most people wouldn't give it to her, but because I look forward to seeing how high she'll fly. The great thing about designers is they get better with age. She's made so many costumes, I had a hard time figuring out how to show off her talents so I'm linking you to her flickr. The best part about all her stuff is how much better it looks in person and she takes unusual body types. Both irregular and plus-sized. In an industry that ignores 3/4 of it's population for being irregular, her perspective was a breath of fresh air. I look forward to seeing what else she creates. What lovely, lovely pieces of art and women.Thank you ladies! And to everyone who came out and supported us! Thank you too! Have a great Memorial Weekend!
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